


Head Over Heels, or Five Times Lucas Sinclair Knew How His Friends Were Feeling + The One Time He Didn't

by antonio_the_great



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Other, anyway st3 scares me because i have no clue what will happen, i am very afraid of s3, if theres any character death, it comes out tomorrow and i only just finished this fic, lets hope its billy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 14:04:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antonio_the_great/pseuds/antonio_the_great
Summary: Lucas has always been good at recognizing emotions when he sees them. He knows which of his friends like which of his other friends sometimes before they do. Yeah, he understands feelings.Which is why it's a wonder to him when he can't even understand his own.





	Head Over Heels, or Five Times Lucas Sinclair Knew How His Friends Were Feeling + The One Time He Didn't

**Author's Note:**

> to preface this: i am totally guessing what happens in stranger things season 3. i don't actually know yet, though i suppose i will by tomorrow. anyway, i'm afraid of what will happen in the new season, so i wrote this to cope or something.

**1.**

Meeting Eleven and getting dragged into this whole mess of missing friends and other dimensions was not something Lucas could even have dreamed of, if he’s being particularly honest. This whole thing feels like something out of a really cool TV show or a movie. Not real life. So Lucas can’t really tell if this is awesome or terrifying.

It turns out to be kind of both.

When they’re not running around trying to actively stop the Demogorgon from killing someone or getting down to the bottom of whatever happened to Will, Lucas realizes that he is becoming a third wheel.

Well, not really. Dustin is there. But it’s sort of awkward watching Mike stare at El when she isn’t even saying anything. Just sitting there watching it is sort of uncomfortable, not to mention if it’s just Lucas and Dustin occupying themselves on the other side of the gym to give him and Eleven their time to “talk” or whatever. Lucas knows he isn’t the only odd one out, it’s just…weird.

It’s not that any of them have ever had a girlfriend before or anything. They don’t even talk about it a lot, because girls don’t really care to talk to them at school. They mostly just think they’re freaks. Sure, Lucas has had a few crushes before, but they’ve obviously never gone anywhere and they’ve fizzled out pretty quickly, so he mostly tries to ignore them if they come up. Mike’s had the odd feelings for a classmate, and Will pipes up about stuff every now and again. And of course, Dustin has had an embarrassing thing for Nancy for like, ever, but that’s _definitely_ not going to go anywhere, especially since she’s dating that dick Steve Harrington now.

So it’s really weird that now there’s a _girl_ in the party, and Mike likes her, and she probably likes Mike, and Will isn’t even here to see it –

He doesn’t want to think about Will right now.

Not that Lucas doesn’t _like_ El, he does, it’s just… he didn’t used to like her. It felt like she was replacing Will. And now that he doesn’t hate her anymore it’s a bit awkward between them? They’re still adjusting to being friends and watching her with Mike just makes Lucas feel like he should make more of an effort to get closer to her since everyone likes her so much. Dustin knows that Mike likes her, but that’s only because Lucas _told_ him (he loves Dustin, but he can be really clueless sometimes).

This is getting ridiculous, and Lucas and Dustin would be trying harder to help these weirdos out, but they’re sort of running from the government while also trying to find their best friend so there isn’t exactly much time for that. The one time they actually did try to talk to Mike about his blatant crush on El, he denied everything and even got a little mad. So, Lucas and Dustin gave him and El their space and stayed on one side of the basement flicking spitballs at each other.

But that feels like a long time ago. El is gone now. Will is here and El is gone, and Lucas wonders if this is the universe playing its sick replacement game again, and if he’ll ever actually get to have them both, friendly and familiar.

She’s been gone for almost a year. The party moves through the rest of the school year and then summer and tries to ignore the gaping hole that Eleven left behind. Dustin cracks jokes and Lucas laughs at them, and they win the science fair again, and they pretend everything is normal when nothing is. Even Will, who never even met El, feels the absence.

And the experience definitely affects their lives. Every time Lucas eats Eggos with his sister, he finds himself staring out into space, thinking of nothing and everything at the same time. Dustin sleeps over a lot at Lucas’s house. He says it’s because his mom is always breathing down his neck and he needs his space, but Lucas can tell that he’s scared. Lucas is too. Sometimes he wakes up in a cold sweat, shaking himself from a nightmare about the other side, about the Upside-Down, and what if it’s not really _over_ , what if it comes _back?_ These nights are easier when Dustin is there, and he picks himself up from the sleeping bag on the floor and crawls into bed with Lucas, hugging him until he falls back asleep.

He can’t even fathom how Will must feel.

Mike deals with it the worst. Of course. He hardly smiles. He’s angry all the time, it feels like. He shuts them out and refuses to talk about it. They’d never stop being friends with Mike, obviously, but sometimes Lucas wishes he would stop being so moody and lighten up. Then he feels guilty right afterward. They didn’t feel the same about El. They didn’t have the connection to her that Mike ~~has~~ had. Mike still goes into his tent every night and radios El, trying to see if she’s out there. He does this every night for almost 365 days straight.

It only solidifies the fact that Mike has feelings for her. He spills one night. They’re in his basement and he suddenly just starts crying, right in the middle of their game of Clue.

“Sorry,” he sobs. Will puts an arm around his shoulders, a worried expression on his face. Mike burrows his face into Will’s chest, muffling the sounds. Dustin and Lucas exchange glances. It’s time.

“Mike,” Dustin says carefully. “Can we talk about this?” Mike sits up, eyes red, and nods. They let him say everything without interruption, Will’s arm still holding Mike, the words pouring out of Mike like a waterfall, gushing and rushing.

When he’s done, they all hug him, one big clump. Somehow they manage to drift off together, coexisting. Together. Close.

But there’s still a missing puzzle piece.

**2.**

It’s not until the Mindflayer shows up that Lucas realizes how much they really _need_ El.

They’re not going to be able to get whatever is in Will out until they find her. But she’s gone. Mike keeps looking for her, but there’s still radio silence. Lucas knew El was part of their party, but she was also part of their _family._ She’s out there somewhere, but not here and not now. So for now Lucas tries to get rid of D’art, Max helping.

Max is pretty great. Mike doesn’t like her, which Lucas thinks is stupid, but Will seems to think she’s nice, and Dustin and Lucas are sort of caught up in a contest for her affections. Lucas wouldn’t mind so much if she liked Dustin better, _if_ she likes either of them. Honestly, if she did date Dustin, Dustin would be really happy and he definitely deserves that. Dustin isn’t often sad, he’s usually the member of the Party who puts on a happy face when times get tough. One of Lucas’s favorite sounds is Dustin’s laughter, when it’s genuine, and they’re laughing at some dumb joke that Will makes while they sit at the arcade, fingers covered in grease and hands sticky with soda.

All that said, Lucas truthfully doesn’t care if Max likes him or Dustin or neither of them, because he just wants to be her friend either way. She’s really cool and she’s _damn_ good at Dig Dug and Lucas is glad she ended up believing him when he told her about El and the Upside-Down, because she deserves to know.

And they also need all the help they can get. So it’s good that Dustin finally shows up to the junkyard with Steve Harrington in tow, too.

Lucas still doesn’t know Steve all too well. They all used to think he was a douchebag, but Dustin seems to think he’s cool now, and Lucas trusts his judgement. Besides, he kind of feels bad for Steve. He and Nancy just broke up. He’s probably got nothing better to do.

As they work to set up the trap and the school bus, Lucas finds himself actually making small talk with Steve, which is kind of weird and kind of whatever. By the time they finish, Lucas and Steve are sitting on top of the bus, Lucas scanning the surrounding trees for any signs of movement.

Steve looks wistfully at the sun sinking beneath the horizon, wiping the sweat from his brow. Lucas recognizes that expression.

“You miss her, don’t you?” he asks. Steve startles, and then sighs. He shoves his hands in his pockets and stares at the ground.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” Lucas shifts his weight from foot to foot. He hadn’t meant to make Steve uncomfortable or anything.

“Sorry, man. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“No,” Steve says. “I need to.” Lucas nods his head in a _go on_ gesture. Steve lowers himself to a sitting position on the roof of the bus.

“I could tell things weren’t working out, hell, we both could. I think we knew it wouldn’t last. But the way it happened…I just wish it had been better.” Lucas can feel hesitation, but he presses on, because he knows that Steve needs this.

“What happened?” Steve winces slightly.

“She got drunk. Like, absolutely wasted. She told me that I was bullshit, that _we_ were bullshit. She didn’t care. Even after all that, after all we’ve been through, it was all just _bullshit._ ” Steve stamps on the roof, making Max exclaim from below.

“And now she’s,” Steve continues. “Now she’s probably off with _J_ _onathan,_ because God knows she’d rather be with him than with me. But, you know, I love her, man. She’s the best girl I've ever met.”

Lucas is silent for a moment. He takes a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, Steve.” Steve huffs, not at Lucas, just at the entire situation. Steve sighs again.

“Yeah, me too. She’d probably be happier with him. I mean, I feel like this has been a long time coming, you know?” Lucas nods because he does know. Nancy and Jonathan have been pining after each other for at least a year. The Party has kind of been waiting for them to get together for a while. They’ve got a betting pool going, actually.

Steve sucks a breath in, stands up.

“Thanks for listening, Sinclair. Even if you don’t care. I just needed to tell someone.” Lucas nods again and, without even thinking about it, wraps his arms around Steve’s middle. Steve tenses for a second, before returning the hug. When he steps back, he ruffles Lucas’s hair. He starts for the ladder.

“Hey, can you send Dustin up?” Lucas asks. Steve sticks up a thumbs up before disappearing into the bus.

“Hey, Henderson,” Lucas hears him say. “Go join your friend up there, you little shit.” A moment later, Dustin’s curly hair materializes at the top of the ladder. He sits next to Lucas.

“What’s up, Lucas?” Lucas fidgets with the binoculars in his lap.

“You don’t still like Nancy, do you?” Dustin’s eyebrows knit together in confusion, and he grins a little.

“Uh…no…why?” Lucas breathes a small sigh of relief.

“Because, dude, she’s totally into Jonathan.” Dustin stares for a moment at Lucas incredulously before laughing.

“Dude… _I know right?_ ” Lucas cracks up too, and now they’re just two idiots sitting on top of a school bus, losing their minds a little bit.

But they’ve always been that really.

**3.**

El comes back.

El comes back and everyone is really happy, so happy. They get the Mindflayer out of Will, they close the gate, and everyone is so tired but they’ve _won_ , so it hardly matters.

They did lose Bob, though. Lucas didn’t really know him, but he does know that he founded Hawkins A.V. and that Will and Jonathan and Joyce are all pretty upset that he’s gone, so he must’ve been a good guy. And brave too.

Everyone slowly tries to adapt back to normal life (as “normal” as life can be for them). They all help clean up the Byers’s house and Dustin has to make a lot of excuses for the whole Demodog-in-the-fridge thing, but it turns out alright.

Mike, is of course, ecstatic that ~~El~~ Jane is back. He visits her at the house whenever he gets the chance, usually every day after school. Jane still isn’t allowed to leave her home much since it isn’t safe, but hopefully soon she can. Initially, it was annoying that Mike only hung out with Jane, but then they all started going to her house instead of hanging in Mike’s basement, and now it’s a great place for them all (even Max) to see each other.

Oh, yeah. Max and Lucas are dating now. He finally plucked up the courage to ask her to dance at the Snow Ball, and now they’re sort of an item, or whatever. Fortunately, Dustin wasn’t too pissed at Lucas for it, though sometimes Lucas catches him in the corner of his eye staring sadly at him and Max. It makes Lucas feel guilty.

Dustin should _really_ get a girlfriend. Lucas makes it his mission to help him with that, but so far nothing’s come out of it, especially since Dustin is really glum and hardly excited at all whenever Lucas tries to talk to him about it, though Lucas doesn’t know why. He’s trying to _help_ him.

And speaking of glum, Will is really sad-looking all the time. Lucas isn’t really sure what his deal is. The Upside-Down is gone, right? Or at least for now. Will hasn’t had any weird new visions of the other dimension or anything, so everything seems to be working out so far so good. Besides, it’s almost summer vacation. He should try to lighten up.

Although, maybe Lucas _does_ know what’s wrong with him. Or, at least, he does when Will tells him, though Lucas has had the odd suspicion in the past.

Will sits across from Lucas on Will’s bed, hands squirming anxiously in his lap. Dustin watches from the floor below.

“Um. So,” Will starts, and then stops. Lucas touches his shoulder.

“Breathe. It’s ok, dude.” Will takes a deep breath.

“I – I like boys. I’m…gay,” he forces the words out, and cringes slightly, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Lucas feels it dawn on him. It makes sense.

“Oh,” Dustin says, eyes slightly bigger than usual. Will shudders and takes another shaky breath.

“And I get if you guys think that’s weird or anything, and you don’t want to be friends with me anymore. I get it. It’s fine.” Lucas frowns.

“What? No,” Lucas says, shifting a little closer. “That wouldn’t be ok. What kind of friends would we be if we did that to you? That’s awful.” Will looks up slowly. Dustin nods enthusiastically from the carpet.

“That would be really shitty. We’re not going to do that.”

“So…you don’t…care?” Will asks, shoulders relaxing slightly. Lucas and Dustin both shake their heads. Will smiles shakily, and his eyes look a little watery. He pulls Lucas into a hug, and Dustin joins them.

“Thank you. Thank you. You guys are the best,” he sobs into Lucas’s chest. Dustin pats Will’s head and they stay like that for a moment before they pull back.

“The only thing I don’t get,” says Dustin, lounging back on the carpet. “Is why you didn’t just tell the whole Party? Like, it’s your choice, dude. I’m just wondering.” Will grimaces.

“Uh, well, I already told Max, actually. I wasn’t even planning on it, we were just at the diner and it sort of…spilled out. I hope that doesn’t make you mad, that I told her before you guys?” Lucas and Dustin shake their heads in unison. “She was really cool about it. And I told Jonathan, too. I’ll tell Jane eventually, she just doesn’t really know about this kind of stuff yet, I don’t think, so I’d have to explain a lot. And Mike – “ but Will breaks off and doesn’t finish the sentence.

“Mike…what?” Dustin asks, looking confused, but Lucas knows.

“You like Mike,” Lucas says. Will squeezes his eyes shut, and nods. Dustin stills.

“Oh,” Dustin says again. Will cries, and they hug him again, holding him as long as they need to.

Will eventually tells Jane and Mike. Jane does require a lot of explanation, but she seems to understand (even nodding enthusiastically along to what Will is saying), and hugs Will tightly when he’s done. Mike smiles and hugs Will too. Everything turns out alright. When he comes out to Joyce, she holds him close and kisses his face all over (Will had asked the Party to be there when he did it, and then got really embarrassed when Joyce kissed him in front of his friends). Everything is ok.

Not so much for Mike and Jane. One day they tell the Party that they’ve broken up, which is shocking for pretty much everyone. They say they’re better off as friends.

It almost doesn’t surprise Lucas. Jane had been _really_ attentive when Will was explaining to her that it’s not always boy-and-girl for everyone.

And it’s also not so surprising when, a month later, Will and Mike turn up to Jane’s house hand in hand. Lucas begrudgingly forks over five dollars to Max, and Jane laughs at the exchange. Lucas meets eyes with Dustin from across the circle, and Dustin grins, which makes Lucas grin, and then they both just burst into laughter, and Lucas’s stomach feels like a volcano erupting, and Mike rolls his eyes playfully and it’s really, really nice.

**4.**

It’s finally summer, and it feels _excellent._

The Party spends as much time as possible in Jane’s cabin, even though it’s stuffy in there and the air conditioning barely works. They’re there so often that, by some spectacular miracle, Hopper actually lets Jane go outside.

No one knows what brought about his change of heart, not even Jane, but he probably just decided that it was finally safe for her to leave the house. Not so many government agents roaming around Hawkins these days, and who would care if the Chief adopted a new kid and she started hanging out with the losers?

Sure, they’ve snuck Jane out a few times in the past, but now that she knows she isn’t lying to Hopper, and no one feels paranoid that they’ll be caught and have to deal with his wrath, it’s more fun. And Jane looks so _free,_ following the Party around the hot, sticky summer, that Lucas sort of wonders why he ever disliked her.

With the Party finally complete, they usually spend their afternoons at the arcade, Max teaching Jane how to play Dig Dug, and nights in Mike’s basement introducing Jane to Dungeons and Dragons. They force Max (unwilling at first and later screaming at Dustin that _he’d better roll higher than a ten this time_ ) to play too, and even sometimes Steve, if he’s around (Steve denies having any fun, saying it’s a nerd game for nerds, but he’s also not so good at lying, so they can all tell he’s secretly having a good time).

Sometimes they walk in the woods, or go to the new mall and get ice creams where Steve works (which he claims is annoying, but he’s most likely not being all the way truthful once again). Sometimes they go to the pool. There’s only two pools in Hawkins. One is the fancy one at the Roane Country Club that rich people like the Harringtons belong to, and they can’t go there. The other is the Hawkins public pool, but they don’t go _there_ so much, because Max’s stupid brother Billy got a job as the lifeguard there, and though Max is certain that he won’t bother them again (Lucas loves her when she’s passionate like that, angry enough she goes pink in the face and her hair seems to burn like fire), and Jane asks if he’s a _mouthbreather,_ the rest of the Party vote to not take any chances.

They actually spend the most time in Steve’s backyard pool, since his parents are basically never home and Steve doesn’t really care if they use it, ”As long as you don’t break anything, you little shits.” It’s a good pool, but Steve says he hasn’t really gone swimming in it for a while, ever since Barb disappeared there. Mike especially is a little wary at first, since he knew Barb the best out of all of them, but after both Jane and Will assure him that there’s no remnants of the Upside-Down there, he relaxes.

The new mall is really cool, and the ice cream shop is especially nice. The flavors are good, but they mostly go there to annoy Steve. His coworker with the blonde hair rolls her eyes every time they burst through the doors. Dustin and Mike have a bet going that she and Steve will probably start going out by the end of the summer, but Lucas privately thinks that that won’t happen. He also thinks that he’s right about that.

He doesn’t see Nancy and Jonathan a lot (according to Mike and Will, they’re doing “gross boyfriend-and-girlfriend stuff”), but he knows that Steve is still jealous of their relationship. He still misses Nancy, for sure. A couple of weeks into the summer, the Party starts seeing more of the couple eating ice cream at the stools at the counter. Max frowns and remarks that it’s a little mean, just rubbing it in Steve’s face like that, but she doesn’t notice that the two wait for Steve until he gets on break, and then he goes and sits with them, the three of them laughing and a stupid smile on Steve’s face. On slower days, they sit up there and Steve talks to them when there aren’t any customers to serve, leaning against the counter and staring fondly at both of them, Nancy laughing along and waving her hands animatedly, Jonathan with his face propped in his hands and a small smile on his face. No one else seems to notice it, but Lucas does.

So he corners Steve one day in late June as they’re leaving his pool, telling the others not to wait for him since they’re all going home anyway (Dustin punches him fondly on the arm as a way of goodbye and Max kisses his cheek). Steve looks at him, unimpressed.

“You still like Nancy,” Lucas deadpans, cutting straight to the point. Steve stares at him for a moment before sighing (and Lucas swears he hears a “Stupid kids with their stupid _sixth senses for this shit_ ” under his breath).

“So? Does it matter if I still like her? It’s not like anything’s going to come out of it,” Steve says, leaning back against the brick wall of his house. Lucas folds his arms.

“And nothing _will_ come out of it if you just sit there and do nothing!” he retorts. Steve scoffs.

“ _Dude_ , did you miss the part where Nance is dating Jonathan? Because I sure didn’t.” Lucas has to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes by instead scrubbing his hands down his face. Steve may be a lot older than he is, but he’s also sort of a _dumbass_ sometimes.

“You’re a dumbass sometimes, Harrington, you know that?” Steve yelps out a “hey!” angrily, but Lucas presses on. “It doesn’t matter if they’re dating, because _you like Jonathan too._ You like _both of them._ ”

Steve stays quiet for about a minute before he starts spluttering indignantly, face turning a bright red.

“What?! That is – it’s not – I don’t even like – so?!?! Even if I _did_ like them both, which I _don’t,_ I can’t just _date both of them_!” Steve breathes heavily, looking slightly panicked and also kind of insane.

“Why not?” Lucas prompts, and Steve doesn’t really seem to have a good answer to counter that.

Mike is a little weirded out when he finds out his sister is dating _two_ guys, and those two guys are also dating _each other,_ but he comes around to it in the end. Will grins and hugs his brother. Jane and Max are confused, but supportive. Dustin thinks it’s cool, and he jumps on top of Steve and tackles him in a bear hug that Steve will swear wasn’t reciprocated, but he’d be lying. The Party makes an unspoken oath not to tell any outsiders, just as they decided with Will and Mike, because it’s 1985, and not everyone will be so accepting as them. Dustin pulls Lucas into the hug too, ‘cause he somehow figured out that Lucas convinced Steve to do something about it, and even after Steve escapes their death grip, Dustin keeps his arm draped over Lucas’s shoulders.

On nights when they’re all at the Wheeler’s, Lucas leaves the basement on his way home and usually sees Nancy and Steve and Jonathan sharing a blanket on the couch, watching a cheesy horror movie and lying all over each other.

**5.**

Lucas and Max break up.

Lucas wishes he could tell you that it doesn’t hurt, but it really does. He isn’t angry with Max, _never_ , but it still stings, because she was his first girlfriend, his first kiss, and basically the first girl that really gave him the time of day.

It happens after they defeat the Mindflayer for the second time. Everyone is really tired and quietly hoping that this is the last time, though they all seem to know that it won’t be. Jane especially is worn out, understandably. Her sister, Kali, goes back to Chicago, but not without telling Jane to call her any time.

(By call she means the _freaky-psychic-way,_ not the _normal-telephone-way_ )

Everyone tries the best they can to adjust back to regular life and enjoy the rest of their summer, though there isn’t much of it left, and they’ve really got the Upside-Down to blame for that. So thanks, otherworldly dimension full of monsters, for completely ruining Lucas’s summer. Ugh.

He and Dustin hang around Scoops Ahoy a lot on their own, just the two of them, even though Steve is still in the hospital for another few days (‘cause he really can’t catch a break with getting his ass beaten, by humans, the Upside-Down, or Upside-Down-posessed humans). Robin sometimes gives them root beer floats on the house, because now _she_ knows about their really messed up lives, and she has a really messed up life through association. Dustin and Lucas usually drink their floats in silence, not saying much, since there really isn’t much to say.

He and Max go on a couple of dates there, until Max breaks up with him over a strawberry ice cream sundae.

“Lucas,” she says, looking uncomfortable and like she really doesn’t want to have to do this. “I gotta talk to you.” Lucas is wary of what comes next, but nods his head.

“I - we should – I think we need to break up,” she says and something drops into the pit of Lucas’s stomach.

“Oh,” he says. What is he _supposed_ to say? “Um. Why?” Max winces like she’d really rather not get into it, but she seems to understand that she owes him this.

“Ever since…ever since _last time,_ I’ve just – I’ve just been dealing with a lot.” She stirs her straw, mixing the ice cream with the chocolate sauce into a colorless sludge.

 _The last time_ they lost Billy. No one’s been really that torn up about it, but Lucas knows that Max has been having a lot of conflicting emotions over it, because even though Billy was a gross and terrible shitstain, he was still her brother, and it sucks to lose a family member. Especially in that way, and especially when you’ve hated him your whole life and now that he’s dead you’re not sure _how_ to feel.

Max goes on, “And I know he sucked, but he was my brother and my mom is really upset about it even though he treated her like shit, and Neil is drinking worse and worse now. And now I guess I have to help Mom plan the funeral, which you don’t have to come to and you probably shouldn’t, because Neil will be there and he’ll ask a lot of _questions._ So, there’s just a lot of stuff going on at home right now and I don’t think I can really handle a relationship right now.” She refuses to meet Lucas’s eyes.

Lucas is really, really sad, and feels selfish in thinking like that, but he isn’t selfish enough to not respect what Max wants.

“Yeah, ok. I understand,” he says, and they both flinch at the break in his voice. Max runs her hands over her face.

“I’m really, _really_ sorry, Lucas. Seriously, I am.” Lucas clears his throat.

“It’s ok, Max. Honestly. It’s fine, I get it.” Max finally looks Lucas in the eye.

“Ok,” she says, taking a shaky breath and straightening herself in her chair. She pauses a moment before flinging herself out of her seat and bending down to hug him, burying her face in his shoulder. He brings up his hand to stroke her hair, which he feels like is probably really awkward, but Max doesn’t seem to care, so he just keeps doing it, trying not to cry, because crying in public would really be the cherry on top of this whole thing, wouldn’t it?

Max mutters _thank you’s_ and _I’m sorry’s_ into Lucas’s shoulder, and when she pulls back, her eyes are red.

It’s weird, at first. Lucas eats more ice cream with Dustin, who consoles him as best he can. He doesn’t see Max a lot, since she’s busy at home. When they do hang out with each other, it’s awkward, but a lot less so than Lucas expected, so at least there’s that. It still hurts, but every day he feels a little better.

Steve gets out of the hospital and starts work up again, and Dustin and Lucas spend half their time actually eating ice cream, and the other half helping Robin find out how many mini plastic spoons they can flick at Steve’s heavily-hairsprayed head before he notices (the record belongs to Robin, with nineteen).

Billy’s funeral comes and goes and none of them are invited, which is fine with them. Max hangs out with them more again, and it almost feels like things are back to normal. Max and Jane get a lot closer than they were, and Jane seems really happy to have another girl to talk to.

So when Lucas starts noticing that the way Jane looks at Max is pretty similar to the way she used to look at Mike, and when Max has a long conversation with Lucas that is kind of weird (since they used to date) but also kind of ok (since Max seems really happy, the happiest she’s been since the funeral), her turning pink in the face and him hugging her a lot, he realizes that he’s ok. And he tells Max to _go get her_.

Dustin laughs good-naturedly about it when he finds out, and Lucas laughs with him, because his laugh has always been really infectious and you kind of can’t not laugh when Dustin does, and the rest of the summer really isn’t that bad.

**\+ 1.**

The Party starts high school.

Jane doesn’t, of course, but they bring back their homework to the cabin, and she watches them teach her how they do science experiments, or solve for _x,_ listening intently with wide eyes. Lucas thinks that no one should be that excited over _homework,_ but Jane is learning, on her way to a somewhat normal life, and she deserves that more than anyone.

The whole thing is weird, because Lucas never thought he’d _make it_ to high school, and that he’d get mauled by Demodogs before that would happen. But they made it.

Jonathan’s working on getting into NYU, and Nancy wants to get accepted too, and he’s not sure _what_ Steve’s going to do, but he knows they’ll figure it out.

They’re busy a lot with homework, but they still manage to find the time to play D&D or have movie nights at Will’s house. Will and Jonathan make each member of the Party their own mixtapes of their favorite songs for the holidays, and Lucas listens to his whenever he can.

They go see movies at the theater, they go for walks in the woods, they play at the arcade, they sneak beer from Mike’s dad and get drunk in the basement and then deal with the consequences in the morning. Everything is…

Normal.

They feel normal.

They feel like _teens_.

And though they know it probably won’t last long, they still relish it as much as possible, because this is the closest any of them have had to _normal_ for years.

But even though things are _normal_ , there’s still the dark house at night and bumps from downstairs and the waiting in your bed, doused in fear, frozen still, because that shape over there looks a lot like a Demogorgon standing against the wall, waiting to pounce.

Dustin comes over more to sleepover. They had stopped doing that for a while, but now it just feels like the natural thing to do. They don’t even bother with the sleeping bag on the floor anymore, Dustin just clambers in through the window and crawls into the bed with Lucas, not saying a word, just hugging him tight.

So even though the dark nights are still full of monsters, the days are full of fun and hanging out with friends in a _normal_ way. They all turn fifteen and have big birthday parties every time, and they always pitch in to get each other some big expensive present, and that’s how Lucas ends up with a really nice record player from Dustin and the others that he can play Hendrix and The Beatles on all he wants. They get Max a new skateboard and Jane a Walkman to use to her heart’s content. Sometimes if Lucas and Dustin can’t sleep, they just put on a record and talk to each other until they finally drift off.

Like tonight. It’s probably morning by now, but neither of them could see themselves turning off the light and going to sleep, so they talk quietly to each other while Tears For Fears plays softly from the turntable.

Lucas is stifling a laugh at something Dustin said and Dustin is actually biting down on his fist to stop any sound from coming out because Erica is only just down the hall, and if they wake her she’ll probably break one of Lucas’s action figures on purpose just because she can and she’s a brat.

Dustin calms himself down enough to speak. “Dude,” he whispers, and he looks sad suddenly. “What’s gonna happen when we go off to college?”

Lucas would be lying if he said he hasn’t ever thought about that dreaded phrase: _life after high school._ He worries sometimes about what he wants to do with his life. He doesn’t know yet. But he knows that’s not what Dustin’s talking about. Part of him wants to get mad at him for even bringing it up, since they’re still only freshmen, but he also knows that four years can go by really fast if you’re not careful.

“You mean what if the world still needs saving while we’re gone?” Lucas asks. “Like, if we’ll just have to drop everything and come back home one day if something goes wrong?" Dustin nods.

“Yeah. And what will Jane do?” Lucas frowns. He had never even thought about what could happen to Jane, and instantly feels bad for never wondering about it. Because what _will_ Jane do? She’s missed about fourteen years of schooling, and she can’t live with Hopper forever.

“I don’t know,” he says quietly. Dustin leans back against the headboard of the bed, hands interlocked behind his head.

“What about us?” Lucas finds himself asking, because a horrible thought has just occurred to him. “Will we all still be friends when we go off?” Dustin glances over at him.

“I think we will,” he murmurs, and he’s probably right. There are many things you can do with friends to bind your souls together for the rest of your lives, and fighting creatures from another dimension is one of them. The Party wouldn’t be able to separate themselves from each other, even if they tried.

"I know,” Dustin says, shifting on his side. “That _we’d_ at least still be friends. Us two.” He sort of brings his hand to rest on top of Lucas’s. With the desk lamp shining from right behind Dustin’s head his curls glow a warm gold, and Lucas doesn’t know why he feels –

That’s – yeah. It…yeah.

Because that? Well.

_Yeah._

“Of course,” Lucas mumbles, and Dustin smiles, and Lucas has been so fucking _clueless._ He slowly slides his hand to the back of Dustin’s neck. He can barely breathe.

“Is this ok?” he whispers. Dustin just keeps smiling and nods.

Lucas leans over slowly, slowly, so _slowly_ , until he finally reaches the destination he’s been heading towards for so long without even knowing.

Dustin’s lips are warm and soft, and his hands are firm on Lucas’s back, and he just lies there, kissing a boy he should have kissed a long time ago while the record keeps turning and turning.

_Something happens and I’m head over heels_

_I never find out till I’m head over heels_

_Something happens and I’m head over heels_

_Ah, don’t take my heart, don’t break my heart_

_Don’t, don’t, don’t throw it away_

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this from the perspective of lucas because i love him, not because we share the same name, though that would be a pretty valid reason too, i think.


End file.
